I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 424 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reform the system of 

public financing for Presidential elections, to establish a system of public 

financing for Congressional elections, to promote the disclosure of disbursements made in coordination with campaigns for election for Federal 

office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 21, 2015 

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina (for himself and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a 

period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reform 

the system of public financing for Presidential elections, 

to establish a system of public financing for Congressional elections, to promote the disclosure of disbursements made in coordination with campaigns for election 

for Federal office, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Empowering Citizens Act’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—REFORM OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FINANCING 

Subtitle A—Primary Elections 

Sec. 101. Increase in and modifications to matching payments. 

Sec. 102. Eligibility requirements for matching payments. 

Sec. 103. Inflation adjustment for matching contributions. 

Sec. 104. Repeal of expenditure limitations. 

Sec. 105. Period of availability of matching payments. 

Sec. 106. Examination and audits of matchable contributions. 

Sec. 107. Modification to limitation on contributions for Presidential primary 

candidates. 

Subtitle B—General Elections 

Sec. 111. Modification of eligibility requirements for public financing. 

Sec. 112. Repeal of expenditure limitations and use of qualified campaign contributions. 

Sec. 113. Matching payments and other modifications to payment amounts. 

Sec. 114. Inflation adjustment for payment amounts. 

Sec. 115. Increase in limit on coordinated party expenditures. 

Sec. 116. Establishment of uniform date for release of payments. 

Sec. 117. Amounts in Presidential Election Campaign Fund. 

Sec. 118. Use of general election payments for general election legal and accounting compliance. 

TITLE II—PUBLIC FINANCING FOR CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION 

CAMPAIGNS 

Sec. 201. Benefits and eligibility requirements for Congressional candidates. 

‘‘TITLE V—PUBLIC FINANCING OF CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION 

CAMPAIGNS 

‘‘Subtitle A—Benefits 

‘‘Sec. 501. Benefits for participating candidates. 

‘‘Sec. 502. Administration of payments. 

‘‘Sec. 503. Qualified contribution defined. 

‘‘Subtitle B—Eligibility and Certification 

‘‘Sec. 511. Eligibility. 

‘‘Sec. 512. Qualified contribution requirements. 

‘‘Sec. 513. Certification. 


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‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements for Candidates Certified as Participating 

Candidates 

‘‘Sec. 521. Restrictions on certain contributions and expenditures. 

‘‘Sec. 522. Remitting unspent funds after election. 

‘‘Subtitle D—Administrative Provisions 

‘‘Sec. 531. Administration by Commission. 

‘‘Sec. 532. Violations and penalties. 

‘‘Sec. 533. Election cycle defined. 

Sec. 202. Permitting unlimited coordinated expenditures by political party committees on behalf of participating candidates if expenditures 

are derived from small dollar contributions. 

Sec. 203. Prohibiting use of contributions by participating candidates for purposes other than campaign for election. 

TITLE III—COORDINATED CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY 

Sec. 301. Clarification of treatment of coordinated expenditures as contributions to candidates. 

Sec. 302. Clarification of ban on fundraising for super PACs by Federal candidates and officeholders. 

TITLE IV—USE OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN FUND 

FOR PUBLIC FINANCING OF FEDERAL ELECTIONS 

Sec. 401. Use of Presidential Election Campaign Fund for congressional candidates. 

Sec. 402. Revisions to designation of income tax payments by individual taxpayers. 

Sec. 403. Donation to Presidential Election Campaign Fund. 

TITLE V—OTHER CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORMS 

Sec. 501. Regulations with respect to best efforts for identifying persons making contributions. 

Sec. 502. Prohibition on joint fundraising committees. 

Sec. 503. Disclosure of bundled contributions to Presidential campaigns. 

Sec. 504. Judicial review of actions related to campaign finance laws. 

TITLE VI—SEVERABILITY; EFFECTIVE DATE 

Sec. 601. Severability. 

Sec. 602. Effective date. 


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1 TITLE I—REFORM OF PRESI2 DENTIAL ELECTION FINANC3 ING 

4 Subtitle A—Primary Elections 

5 SEC. 101. INCREASE IN AND MODIFICATIONS TO MATCHING 

6 PAYMENTS. 

7 (a) INCREASE AND MODIFICATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The first sentence of section 

9 9034(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

10 amended— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘an amount equal to the 

12 amount of each contribution’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

13 amount equal to 600 percent of the amount of 

14 each matchable contribution (disregarding any 

15 amount of contributions from any person to the 

16 extent that the total of the amounts contributed 

17 by such person for the election exceeds $250)’’; 

18 and 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘authorized committees’’ 

20 and all that follows through ‘‘$250’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘authorized committees’’. 

22 (2) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 

23 9034 of such Code is amended— 

24 (A) by striking the last sentence of sub25 section (a); and 


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1 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the 

2 following new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(c) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION DEFINED.—For 

4 purposes of this section and section 9033(b)— 

5 ‘‘(1) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION.—The term 

6 ‘matchable contribution’ means, with respect to the 

7 nomination for election to the office of President of 

8 the United States, a contribution by an individual to 

9 a candidate or an authorized committee of a can10 didate with respect to which the candidate has cer11 tified in writing that— 

12 ‘‘(A) the individual making such contribu13 tion has not made aggregate contributions (in14 cluding such matchable contribution) to such 

15 candidate and the authorized committees of 

16 such candidate in excess of $1,000 for the elec17 tion; 

18 ‘‘(B) such candidate and the authorized 

19 committees of such candidate will not accept 

20 contributions from such individual (including 

21 such matchable contribution) aggregating more 

22 than the amount described in subparagraph 

23 (A); and 

24 ‘‘(C) such contribution was not— 


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1 ‘‘(i) forwarded from the contributor 

2 from any person other than an individual, 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(ii) received by the candidate or com5 mittee from a contributor or contributors, 

6 but credited by the committee or candidate 

7 to another person who is not an individual 

8 through records, designations, or other 

9 means of recognizing (whether in writing 

10 or not in writing) that a certain amount of 

11 money has been raised by such person. 

12 ‘‘(2) CONTRIBUTION.—For purposes of this 

13 subsection, the term ‘contribution’ means a gift of 

14 money made by a written instrument which identi15 fies the individual making the contribution by full 

16 name and mailing address, but does not include a 

17 subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money, or 

18 anything of value or anything described in subpara19 graph (B), (C), or (D) of section 9032(4).’’. 

20 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

21 (A) Section 9032(4) of such Code is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘section 9034(a)’’ and in23 serting ‘‘section 9034’’. 


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1 (B) Section 9033(b)(3) of such Code is 

2 amended by striking ‘‘matching contributions’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘matchable contributions’’. 

4 (b) MODIFICATION OF PAYMENT LIMITATION.—Sec5 tion 9034(b) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘shall 

6 not exceed’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘shall not 

7 exceed $300,000,000.’’ 

8 SEC. 102. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR MATCHING 

9 PAYMENTS. 

10 (a) AMOUNT OF AGGREGATE CONTRIBUTIONS PER

11 STATE; DISREGARDING OF AMOUNTS CONTRIBUTED IN

12 EXCESS OF $250.—Section 9033(b)(3) of the Internal 

13 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘20 States’’ and inserting the 

17 following: ‘‘20 States (disregarding any amount of 

18 contributions from any such resident to the extent 

19 that the total of the amounts contributed by such 

20 resident for the election exceeds $250)’’. 

21 (b) CONTRIBUTION LIMIT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (4) of section 

23 9033(b) of such Code is amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(4) the candidate and the authorized commit25 tees of the candidate will not accept aggregate conVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:10 Jan 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.IH H424

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1 tributions from any person with respect to the nomi2 nation for election to the office of President of the 

3 United States in excess of $1,000 for the election.’’. 

4 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (A) Section 9033(b) of such Code is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following 

7 new flush sentence: 

8 ‘‘For purposes of paragraph (4), the term ‘contribution’ 

9 has the meaning given such term in section 301(8) of the 

10 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

11 (B) Section 9032(4) of such Code, as 

12 amended by section 101(a)(3)(A) is amended by 

13 inserting ‘‘or 9033(b)’’ after ‘‘9034’’. 

14 (c) BAN ON ACCEPTANCE OF BUNDLED CONTRIBU15 TIONS.—Section 9033(b) of such Code, as amended by 

16 subsection (b), is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

18 (3); 

19 (2) by striking the period at the end of para20 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

22 paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(5) the candidate and the authorized com24 mittee of the candidate will not accept any bundled 

25 contribution (as defined in section 304(i)(8)) forVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:10 Jan 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.IH H424

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1 warded by or credited to a person described in sec2 tion 304(i)(7).’’. 

3 (d) PARTICIPATION IN SYSTEM FOR PAYMENTS FOR

4 GENERAL ELECTION.—Section 9033(b) of such Code, as 

5 amended by subsection (c), is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

7 (4); 

8 (2) by striking the period at the end of para9 graph (5) and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

11 paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(6) if the candidate is nominated by a political 

13 party for election to the office of President, the can14 didate will apply for and accept payments with re15 spect to the general election for such office in ac16 cordance with chapter 95.’’. 

17 SEC. 103. INFLATION ADJUSTMENT FOR MATCHING CON18 TRIBUTIONS. 

19 Section 9033 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

20 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub21 section: 

22 ‘‘(d) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any applica24 ble period beginning after 2015, each of the dollar 


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1 amounts in section 9034(b) shall be increased by an 

2 amount equal to— 

3 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

4 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter5 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

6 year following the year which such applicable 

7 period begins, determined by substituting ‘cal8 endar year 2015’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in 

9 subparagraph (B) thereof. 

10 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes of 

11 this subsection, the term ‘applicable period’ means 

12 the 4-year period beginning with the first day fol13 lowing the date of the last general election for the 

14 office of President and ending on the date of the 

15 next such general election. 

16 ‘‘(3) ROUNDING.—If any amount as adjusted 

17 under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $100, such 

18 amount shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of 

19 $100.’’. 

20 SEC. 104. REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 9035 of 

22 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

23 as follows: 

24 ‘‘(a) PERSONAL EXPENDITURE LIMITATION.—No 

25 candidate shall knowingly make expenditures from his perVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:10 Jan 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.IH H424

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1 sonal funds, or the personal funds of his immediate family, 

2 in connection with his campaign for nomination for elec3 tion to the office of President in excess of, in the aggre4 gate, $50,000.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) of 

6 section 9033(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

7 amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(1) the candidate will comply with the per9 sonal expenditure limitation under section 9035,’’. 

10 SEC. 105. PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF MATCHING PAY11 MENTS. 

12 Section 9032(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

13 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘the beginning of the cal14 endar year in which a general election for the office of 

15 President of the United States will be held’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘the date that is 6 months prior to the date of the earliest 

17 State primary election’’. 

18 SEC. 106. EXAMINATION AND AUDITS OF MATCHABLE CON19 TRIBUTIONS. 

20 Section 9038(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

21 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘and matchable contribu22 tions accepted by’’ after ‘‘qualified campaign expenses of’’. 


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1 SEC. 107. MODIFICATION TO LIMITATION ON CONTRIBU2 TIONS FOR PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY CAN3 DIDATES. 

4 Section 315(a)(6) of the Federal Election Campaign 

5 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(6)) is amended by strik6 ing ‘‘calendar year’’ and inserting ‘‘four-year election 

7 cycle’’. 

8 Subtitle B—General Elections 

9 SEC. 111. MODIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS 

10 FOR PUBLIC FINANCING. 

11 Subsection (a) of section 9003 of the Internal Rev12 enue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible to receive 

14 any payments under section 9006, the candidates of a po15 litical party in a presidential election shall meet the fol16 lowing requirements: 

17 ‘‘(1) PARTICIPATION IN PRIMARY PAYMENT

18 SYSTEM.—The candidate for President received pay19 ments under chapter 96 for the campaign for nomi20 nation for election to be President. 

21 ‘‘(2) AGREEMENTS WITH COMMISSION.—The 

22 candidates, in writing— 

23 ‘‘(A) agree to obtain and furnish to the 

24 Commission such evidence as it may request of 

25 the qualified campaign expenses of such can26 didates, 


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1 ‘‘(B) agree to keep and furnish to the 

2 Commission such records, books, and other in3 formation as it may request, and 

4 ‘‘(C) agree to an audit and examination by 

5 the Commission under section 9007 and to pay 

6 any amounts required to be paid under such 

7 section. 

8 ‘‘(3) BAN ON CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS AND

9 SOLICITATIONS.—The candidates certify to the Com10 mission, under penalty of perjury, the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) BUNDLED CONTRIBUTIONS.—Such 

12 candidates and the authorized committees of 

13 such candidates will not accept any bundled 

14 contribution (as defined in section 304(i)(8)) 

15 forwarded by or credited to a person described 

16 in section 304(i)(7). 

17 ‘‘(B) SOLICITATIONS FOR JOINT FUND18 RAISING COMMITTEES.—Such candidates and 

19 their authorized committees will not, after June 

20 1 of the election year, solicit any funds for any 

21 joint fundraising committee that includes any 

22 committee of a political party. 

23 ‘‘(C) SOLICITATION FOR POLITICAL PAR24 TIES.—Such candidates and their authorized 

25 committees will not, after June 1 of the year in 


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1 which the election is held, solicit any funds for 

2 any committee of a political party. 

3 Such certification shall be made within such time 

4 prior to the day of the presidential election as the 

5 Commission shall prescribe by rules or regulations.’’. 

6 SEC. 112. REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS AND USE 

7 OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS. 

8 (a) USE OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

9 WITHOUT EXPENDITURE LIMITS; APPLICATION OF SAME

10 REQUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR, MINOR, AND NEW PAR11 TIES.—Section 9003 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

12 1986 is amended by striking subsections (b) and (c) and 

13 inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(b) USE OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

15 TO DEFRAY EXPENSES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible to 

17 receive any payments under section 9006, the can18 didates of a party in a presidential election shall cer19 tify to the Commission, under penalty of perjury, 

20 that— 

21 ‘‘(A) such candidates and their authorized 

22 committees have not and will not accept any 

23 contributions to defray qualified campaign ex24 penses other than— 


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1 ‘‘(i) qualified campaign contributions, 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) contributions to the extent nec4 essary to make up any deficiency payments 

5 received out of the fund on account of the 

6 application of section 9006(c), and 

7 ‘‘(B) such candidates and their authorized 

8 committees have not and will not accept any 

9 contribution to defray expenses which would be 

10 qualified campaign expenses but for subpara11 graph (C) of section 9002(11). 

12 ‘‘(2) TIMING OF CERTIFICATION.—The can13 didate shall make the certification required under 

14 this subsection at the same time the candidate 

15 makes the certification required under subsection 

16 (a)(3).’’. 

17 (b) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CON18 TRIBUTION.—Section 9002 of such Code is amended by 

19 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(13) QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION.— 

21 The term ‘qualified campaign contribution’ means, 

22 with respect to any election for the office of Presi23 dent of the United States, a contribution from an in24 dividual to a candidate or an authorized committee 

25 of a candidate which— 


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1 ‘‘(A) is made after June 1 of the year in 

2 which the election is held; 

3 ‘‘(B) does not exceed $1,000 for the elec4 tion; and 

5 ‘‘(C) with respect to which the candidate 

6 has certified in writing that— 

7 ‘‘(i) the individual making such con8 tribution has not made aggregate contribu9 tions (including such qualified contribu10 tion) to such candidate and the authorized 

11 committees of such candidate in excess of 

12 the amount described in subparagraph (B), 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(ii) such candidate and the author15 ized committees of such candidate will not 

16 accept contributions from such individual 

17 (including such qualified contribution) ag18 gregating more than the amount described 

19 in subparagraph (B) with respect to such 

20 election.’’. 

21 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (1) REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITS.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 315 of the Fed24 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

25 30116) is amended by striking subsection (b). 


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1 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

2 315(c) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30116(c)) is 

3 amended— 

4 (i) in paragraph (1)(B)(i), by striking 

5 ‘‘, (b)’’; and 

6 (ii) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by striking 

7 ‘‘subsections (b) and (d)’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘subsection (d)’’. 

9 (2) REPEAL OF REPAYMENT REQUIREMENT.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 9007(b) of the 

11 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

12 striking paragraph (2) and redesignating para13 graphs (3), (4), and (5) as paragraphs (2), (3), 

14 and (4), respectively. 

15 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Para16 graph (2) of section 9007(b) of such Code, as 

17 redesignated by subparagraph (A), is amend18 ed— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘a major party’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘a party’’; 

21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘qualified contribu22 tions and’’ after ‘‘contributions (other 

23 than’’; and 

24 (iii) by striking ‘‘(other than qualified 

25 campaign expenses with respect to which 


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1 payment is required under paragraph 

2 (2))’’. 

3 (3) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 

4 (A) REPEAL OF PENALTY FOR EXCESS EX5 PENSES.—Section 9012 of the Internal Revenue 

6 Code of 1986 is amended by striking subsection 

7 (a). 

8 (B) PENALTY FOR ACCEPTANCE OF DIS9 ALLOWED CONTRIBUTIONS; APPLICATION OF

10 SAME PENALTY FOR CANDIDATES OF MAJOR, 

11 MINOR, AND NEW PARTIES.—Subsection (b) of 

12 section 9012 of such Code is amended to read 

13 as follows: 

14 ‘‘(b) CONTRIBUTIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ACCEPTANCE OF DISALLOWED CONTRIBU16 TIONS.—It shall be unlawful for an eligible can17 didate of a party in a presidential election or any of 

18 his authorized committees knowingly and willfully to 

19 accept any contribution to defray qualified campaign 

20 expenses, except to the extent necessary to make up 

21 any deficiency in payments received out of the fund 

22 on account of the application of section 9006(c), or 

23 to defray expenses which would be qualified cam24 paign expenses but for subparagraph (C) of section 

25 9002(11). 


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1 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para2 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $5,000, or 

3 imprisoned not more than one year, or both. In the 

4 case of a violation by an authorized committee, any 

5 officer or member of such committee who knowingly 

6 and willfully consents to such violation shall be fined 

7 not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than 

8 one year, or both.’’. 

9 SEC. 113. MATCHING PAYMENTS AND OTHER MODIFICA10 TIONS TO PAYMENT AMOUNTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (1) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS; APPLICATION OF

13 SAME AMOUNT FOR CANDIDATES OF MAJOR, MINOR, 

14 AND NEW PARTIES.—Subsection (a) of section 9004 

15 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to 

16 read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of this 

18 chapter, the eligible candidates of a party in a presidential 

19 election shall be entitled to equal payment under section 

20 9006 in an amount equal to 600 percent of the amount 

21 of each matchable contribution received by such candidate 

22 or by the candidate’s authorized committees (disregarding 

23 any amount of contributions from any person to the extent 

24 that the total of the amounts contributed by such person 

25 for the election exceeds $250), except that total amount 


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1 to which a candidate is entitled under this paragraph shall 

2 not exceed $300,000,000.’’. 

3 (2) REPEAL OF SEPARATE LIMITATIONS FOR

4 CANDIDATES OF MINOR AND NEW PARTIES.—Section 

5 9004 of such Code is amended by striking sub6 section (b). 

7 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

8 9005(a) of such Code is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following new sentence: ‘‘The Commission 

10 shall make such additional certifications as may be 

11 necessary to receive payments under section 9004.’’. 

12 (b) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION.—Section 9002 of 

13 such Code, as amended by section 112, is amended by add14 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(14) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION.—The term 

16 ‘matchable contribution’ means, with respect to the 

17 election to the office of President of the United 

18 States, a contribution by an individual to a can19 didate or an authorized committee of a candidate 

20 with respect to which the candidate has certified in 

21 writing that— 

22 ‘‘(A) the individual making such contribu23 tion has not made aggregate contributions (in24 cluding such matchable contribution) to such 

25 candidate and the authorized committees of 


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1 such candidate in excess of $1,000 for the elec2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(B) such candidate and the authorized 

4 committees of such candidate will not accept 

5 contributions from such individual (including 

6 such matchable contribution) aggregating more 

7 than the amount described in subparagraph (A) 

8 with respect to such election; and 

9 ‘‘(C) such contribution was not— 

10 ‘‘(i) forwarded from the contributor 

11 from any person other than an individual, 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(ii) received by the candidate or com14 mittee from a contributor or contributors, 

15 but credited by the committee or candidate 

16 to another person who is not an individual 

17 through records, designations, or other 

18 means of recognizing (whether in writing 

19 or not in writing) that a certain amount of 

20 money has been raised by such person.’’. 

21 SEC. 114. INFLATION ADJUSTMENT FOR PAYMENT 

22 AMOUNTS. 

23 Section 9004 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

24 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub25 section: 


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1 ‘‘(f) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any applica3 ble period beginning after 2017, each of the dollar 

4 amounts in subsection (a)(1) shall be increased by 

5 an amount equal to— 

6 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount; multiplied by 

7 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter8 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

9 year following the year which such applicable 

10 period begins, determined by substituting ‘cal11 endar year 2016’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in 

12 subparagraph (B) thereof. 

13 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes of 

14 this subsection, the term ‘applicable period’ means 

15 the 4-year period beginning with the first day fol16 lowing the date of the last general election for the 

17 office of President and ending on the date of the 

18 next such general election. 

19 ‘‘(3) ROUNDING.—If any amount as adjusted 

20 under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $100, such 

21 amount shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of 

22 $100.’’. 


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1 SEC. 115. INCREASE IN LIMIT ON COORDINATED PARTY EX2 PENDITURES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(d)(2) of the Federal 

4 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(d)(2)) 

5 is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2)(A) The national committee of a political party 

7 may not make any expenditure in connection with the gen8 eral election campaign of any candidate for President of 

9 the United States who is affiliated with such party which 

10 exceeds $100,000,000. 

11 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph— 

12 ‘‘(i) any expenditure made by or on behalf of a 

13 national committee of a political party and in con14 nection with a presidential election shall be consid15 ered to be made in connection with the general elec16 tion campaign of a candidate for President of the 

17 United States who is affiliated with such party; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) any communication made by or on behalf 

19 of such party shall be considered to be made in con20 nection with the general election campaign of a can21 didate for President of the United States who is af22 filiated with such party if any portion of the commu23 nication is in connection with such election. 

24 ‘‘(C) Any expenditure under this paragraph shall be 

25 in addition to any expenditure by a national committee 

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1 mittee of a candidate for the office of President of the 

2 United States.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO TIM4 ING OF COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(c)(1) of such 

6 Act (52 U.S.C. 30116(c)(1)), as amended by section 

7 112(d)(1)(B), is amended— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(d)’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘(d)(3)’’; and 

10 (B) by inserting at the end the following 

11 new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(D) In any calendar year after 2017— 

13 ‘‘(i) the dollar amount in subsection (d)(2) shall 

14 be increased by the percent difference determined 

15 under subparagraph (A); 

16 ‘‘(ii) the amount so increased shall remain in 

17 effect for the calendar year; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) if the amount after adjustment under 

19 clause (i) is not a multiple of $100, such amount 

20 shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $100.’’. 

21 (2) BASE YEAR.—Section 315(c)(2)(B) of such 

22 Act (52 U.S.C. 30116(c)(2)(B)), as amended by sec23 tion 112(d)(1)(B), is amended— 

24 (A) in clause (i)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘(d)’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘(d)(3)’’; and 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

4 (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 

5 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

7 clause: 

8 ‘‘(iii) for purposes of subsection (d)(2), cal9 endar year 2016.’’. 

10 SEC. 116. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIFORM DATE FOR RE11 LEASE OF PAYMENTS. 

12 (a) DATE FOR PAYMENTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9006(b) of the In14 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as 

15 follows: 

16 ‘‘(b) PAYMENTS FROM THE FUND.—If the Secretary 

17 of the Treasury receives a certification from the Commis18 sion under section 9005 for payment to the eligible can19 didates of a political party, the Secretary shall pay to such 

20 candidates out of the fund the amount certified by the 

21 Commission on the later of— 

22 ‘‘(1) the last Friday occurring before the first 

23 Monday in September; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) 24 hours after receiving the certifications 

2 for the eligible candidates of all major political par3 ties. 

4 Amounts paid to any such candidates shall be under the 

5 control of such candidates.’’. 

6 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The first sen7 tence of section 9006(c) of such Code is amended by 

8 striking ‘‘the time of a certification by the Commis9 sion under section 9005 for payment’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘the time of making a payment under subsection 

11 (b)’’. 

12 (b) TIME FOR CERTIFICATION.—Section 9005(a) of 

13 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

14 ‘‘10 days’’ and inserting ‘‘24 hours’’. 

15 SEC. 117. AMOUNTS IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAM16 PAIGN FUND. 

17 (a) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNTS IN FUND.—Sec18 tion 9006(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 

20 ‘‘In making a determination of whether there are insuffi21 cient moneys in the fund for purposes of the previous sen22 tence, the Secretary shall take into account in determining 

23 the balance of the fund for a Presidential election year 

24 the Secretary’s best estimate of the amount of moneys 

25 which will be deposited into the fund during the year, exVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:10 Jan 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.IH H424

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1 cept that the amount of the estimate may not exceed the 

2 average of the annual amounts deposited in the fund dur3 ing the previous 3 years.’’. 

4 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR FIRST CAMPAIGN CYCLE

5 UNDER THIS ACT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9006 of the Internal 

7 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 

8 end the following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL AUTHORITY TO BORROW.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

11 (c), there are authorized to be appropriated to the 

12 fund, as repayable advances, such sums as are nec13 essary to carry out the purposes of the fund during 

14 the period ending on the first presidential election 

15 occurring after the date of the enactment of this 

16 subsection. 

17 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENT OF ADVANCES.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Advances made to the 

19 fund shall be repaid, and interest on such ad20 vances shall be paid, to the general fund of the 

21 Treasury when the Secretary determines that 

22 moneys are available for such purposes in the 

23 fund. 

24 ‘‘(B) RATE OF INTEREST.—Interest on ad25 vances made to the fund shall be at a rate deVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jan 28, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.IH H424

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1 termined by the Secretary of the Treasury (as 

2 of the close of the calendar month preceding the 

3 month in which the advance is made) to be 

4 equal to the current average market yield on 

5 outstanding marketable obligations of the 

6 United States with remaining periods to matu7 rity comparable to the anticipated period during 

8 which the advance will be outstanding and shall 

9 be compounded annually.’’. 

10 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

11 by this subsection shall take effect January 1, 2016. 

12 SEC. 118. USE OF GENERAL ELECTION PAYMENTS FOR GEN13 ERAL ELECTION LEGAL AND ACCOUNTING 

14 COMPLIANCE. 

15 Section 9002(11) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

16 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

17 sentence: ‘‘For purposes of subparagraph (A), an expense 

18 incurred by a candidate or authorized committee for gen19 eral election legal and accounting compliance purposes 

20 shall be considered to be an expense to further the election 

21 of such candidate.’’. 


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1 TITLE II—PUBLIC FINANCING 

2 FOR CONGRESSIONAL ELEC3 TION CAMPAIGNS 

4 SEC. 201. BENEFITS AND ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR 

5 CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES. 

6 The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

7 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘TITLE V—PUBLIC FINANCING 

10 OF CONGRESSIONAL ELEC11 TION CAMPAIGNS 

12 ‘‘Subtitle A—Benefits 

13 ‘‘SEC. 501. BENEFITS FOR PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If a candidate for election to the 

15 office of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resi16 dent Commissioner to, the Congress is a participating can17 didate under this title with respect to an election for such 

18 office, the candidate shall be entitled to payments under 

19 this title, to be used only for authorized expenditures in 

20 connection with the election. 

21 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) MATCH OF QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTIONS.— 

23 Subject to paragraph (2), the amount of a payment 

24 made to a participating candidate under this title 

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1 fied contributions received by the candidate since the 

2 most recent payment made to the candidate under 

3 this title with respect to the election, as set forth— 

4 ‘‘(A) in the case of the first payment made 

5 to the candidate with respect to the election, in 

6 the report filed under section 511(a)(2); and 

7 ‘‘(B) in the case of any subsequent pay8 ment made to the candidate with respect to the 

9 election, in the report of qualified contributions 

10 filed under subsection (c). 

11 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—In determining the amount 

12 of qualified contributions received by a candidate for 

13 purposes of making a payment under this section, 

14 there shall be disregarded any amount of contribu15 tions from any person to the extent that the total of 

16 the amounts contributed by such person for the elec17 tion exceeds $250. 

18 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each participating can20 didate shall file reports of receipts of qualified con21 tributions at such times and in such manner as the 

22 Commission may by regulations prescribe. 

23 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF REPORTS.—Each report 

24 under this subsection shall disclose each qualified 

25 contribution received by the candidate since the most 


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1 recent report filed under this section, and shall state 

2 the aggregate amount of all such qualified contribu3 tions received since the most recent report filed 

4 under this section. 

5 ‘‘(3) FREQUENCY OF REPORTS.—Reports under 

6 this subsection shall be made no more frequently 

7 than— 

8 ‘‘(A) once every month until the date that 

9 is 90 days before the date of the election; 

10 ‘‘(B) once every week after the period de11 scribed in subparagraph (A) and until the date 

12 that is 21 days before the election; and 

13 ‘‘(C) once every day after the period de14 scribed in subparagraph (B). 

15 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON REGULATIONS.—The 

16 Commission may not prescribe any regulations with 

17 respect to reporting under this subsection with re18 spect to any election after the date that is 180 days 

19 before the date of such election. 

20 ‘‘(d) LIMIT ON AGGREGATE AMOUNT OF PAY21 MENTS.—The aggregate amount of payments that may be 

22 made under this title to a participating candidate during 

23 an election cycle may not exceed— 


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1 ‘‘(1) $2,000,000, in the case of a candidate for 

2 the office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resi3 dent Commissioner to, the Congress; or 

4 ‘‘(2) $10,000,000, in the case of a candidate for 

5 the office of Senator. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 502. ADMINISTRATION OF PAYMENTS. 

7 ‘‘(a) TIMING.—The Commission shall make payments 

8 under this title to a participating candidate— 

9 ‘‘(1) in the case of the first payment made to 

10 the candidate with respect to the election, not later 

11 than 48 hours after the date on which such can12 didate is certified as a participating candidate under 

13 section 513; and 

14 ‘‘(2) in the case of any subsequent payment 

15 made to the candidate with respect to the election, 

16 not later than 5 business days after the receipt of 

17 a report made under section 501(c). 

18 ‘‘(b) METHOD OF PAYMENT.—The Commission shall 

19 distribute funds available to participating candidates 

20 under this title through the use of an electronic funds ex21 change or a debit card. 

22 ‘‘(c) APPEALS.—The Commission shall provide a 

23 written explanation with respect to any denial of any pay24 ment under this title and shall provide for the opportunity 


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1 for review and reconsideration within 5 business days of 

2 such denial. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 503. QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTION DEFINED. 

4 ‘‘In this title, the term ‘qualified contribution’ means, 

5 with respect to a candidate, a contribution that meets each 

6 of the following requirements: 

7 ‘‘(1) The contribution is in an amount that is 

8 not greater than the limit on the amount of a con9 tribution that may be accepted by a participating 

10 candidate from an individual under section 521(a). 

11 ‘‘(2) The contribution is made by an individual 

12 who is not otherwise prohibited from making a con13 tribution under this Act. 

14 ‘‘(3) The contribution is not— 

15 ‘‘(A) forwarded from the contributor by 

16 any person other than an individual; or 

17 ‘‘(B) received by the candidate or an au18 thorized committee of the candidate from a con19 tributor or contributors, but credited by the 

20 committee or candidate to another person who 

21 is not an individual through records, designa22 tions, or other means of recognizing (whether in 

23 writing or not in writing) that a certain amount 

24 of money has been raised by such person. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The contribution meets the requirements 

2 of section 512(b). 

3 ‘‘Subtitle B—Eligibility and 

4 Certification 

5 ‘‘SEC. 511. ELIGIBILITY. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A candidate for the office of 

7 Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident 

8 Commissioner to, the Congress is eligible to be certified 

9 as a participating candidate under this title with respect 

10 to an election if the candidate meets the following require11 ments: 

12 ‘‘(1) During the election cycle for the office in13 volved, the candidate files with the Commission a 

14 statement of intent to seek certification as a partici15 pating candidate. 

16 ‘‘(2) The candidate meets the qualified con17 tribution requirements of section 512 and submits to 

18 the Commission a report disclosing each qualified 

19 contribution received by the candidate and stating 

20 the aggregate amount of all such qualified contribu21 tions received. 

22 ‘‘(3) Not later than the last day of the quali23 fying period, the candidate files with the Commis24 sion an affidavit signed by the candidate and the 


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1 treasurer of the candidate’s principal campaign com2 mittee declaring that the candidate— 

3 ‘‘(A) has complied and, if certified, will 

4 comply with the contribution and expenditure 

5 requirements of section 521; 

6 ‘‘(B) if certified, will run only as a partici7 pating candidate for all elections for the office 

8 that such candidate is seeking during the elec9 tion cycle; and 

10 ‘‘(C) has either qualified or will take steps 

11 to qualify under State law to be on the ballot. 

12 ‘‘(b) GENERAL ELECTION.—Notwithstanding sub13 section (a), a candidate shall not be eligible to receive a 

14 payment under this title for a general election or a general 

15 runoff election unless the candidate’s party nominated the 

16 candidate to be placed on the ballot for the general elec17 tion or the candidate is otherwise qualified to be on the 

18 ballot under State law. 

19 ‘‘(c) QUALIFYING PERIOD DEFINED.—The term 

20 ‘qualifying period’ means, with respect to any candidate 

21 for the office of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate 

22 or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress, the 120-day 

23 period (during the election cycle for such office) which be24 gins on the date on which the candidate files a statement 


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1 of intent under section 511(a)(1), except that such period 

2 may not continue after the date that is 60 days before— 

3 ‘‘(1) the date of the primary election; or 

4 ‘‘(2) in the case of a State that does not hold 

5 a primary election, the date prescribed by State law 

6 as the last day to qualify for a position on the gen7 eral election ballot. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 512. QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS. 

9 ‘‘(a) RECEIPT OF QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A candidate meets the re11 quirements of this section if, during the qualifying 

12 period described in section 511(c), the candidate ob13 tains— 

14 ‘‘(A) a single qualified contribution from a 

15 number of individuals equal to or greater 

16 than— 

17 ‘‘(i) in the case of a candidate for 

18 election the office of Representative in, or 

19 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 

20 Congress, 400, or 

21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a candidate for the 

22 office of Senator, the product of 400 and 

23 the number of Congressional districts in 

24 the State involved as of the date of the 

25 election; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) a total dollar amount of qualified 

2 contributions equal to or greater than— 

3 ‘‘(i) in the case of a candidate for 

4 election the office of Representative in, or 

5 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 

6 Congress, $40,000, disregarding any 

7 amount of contributions from any person 

8 to the extent that the total of the amounts 

9 contributed by such person for the election 

10 exceeds $250, or 

11 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a candidate for the 

12 office of Senator, the product of $40,000 

13 and the number of Congressional districts 

14 in the State involved as of the date of the 

15 election, disregarding any amount of con16 tributions from any person to the extent 

17 that the total of the amounts contributed 

18 by such person for the election exceeds 

19 $250. 

20 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSION OF CONTRIBUTIONS FROM

21 OUT-OF-STATE RESIDENTS.—In determining the 

22 number of qualified contributions obtained by a can23 didate under paragraph (1)(A) and the dollar 

24 amount of qualified contributions obtained by a can25 didate under paragraph (1)(B), there shall be exVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:10 Jan 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.IH H424

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1 cluded any contributions made by an individual who 

2 does not have a primary residence in the State in 

3 which such candidate is seeking election. 

4 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO RECEIPT OF

5 QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTION.—Each qualified contribu6 tion— 

7 ‘‘(1) may be made by means of a personal 

8 check, money order, debit card, credit card, or elec9 tronic payment account; 

10 ‘‘(2) shall be accompanied by a signed state11 ment containing the contributor’s name and the con12 tributor’s address in the State in which the primary 

13 residence of the contributor is located; and 

14 ‘‘(3) shall be acknowledged by a receipt that is 

15 sent to the contributor with a copy kept by the can16 didate for the Commission and a copy kept by the 

17 candidate for the election authorities in the State 

18 with respect to which the candidate is seeking elec19 tion. 

20 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITING PAYMENT ON COMMISSION BASIS

21 OF INDIVIDUALS COLLECTING QUALIFIED CONTRIBU22 TIONS.—No person may be paid a commission on a per 

23 qualified contribution basis for collecting qualified con24 tributions. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 513. CERTIFICATION. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEADLINE AND NOTIFICATION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 days 

4 after a candidate files an affidavit under section 

5 511(a)(3), the Commission shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) determine whether or not the can7 didate meets the requirements for certification 

8 as a participating candidate; 

9 ‘‘(B) if the Commission determines that 

10 the candidate meets such requirements, certify 

11 the candidate as a participating candidate; and 

12 ‘‘(C) notify the candidate of the Commis13 sion’s determination. 

14 ‘‘(2) DEEMED CERTIFICATION FOR ALL ELEC15 TIONS IN ELECTION CYCLE.—If the Commission cer16 tifies a candidate as a participating candidate with 

17 respect to the first election of the election cycle in18 volved, the Commissioner shall be deemed to have 

19 certified the candidate as a participating candidate 

20 with respect to all subsequent elections of the elec21 tion cycle. 

22 ‘‘(b) REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may re24 voke a certification under subsection (a) if— 

25 ‘‘(A) a candidate fails to qualify to appear 

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1 tification (other than a candidate certified as a 

2 participating candidate with respect to a pri3 mary election who fails to qualify to appear on 

4 the ballot for a subsequent election in that elec5 tion cycle); or 

6 ‘‘(B) a candidate otherwise fails to comply 

7 with the requirements of this title, including 

8 any regulatory requirements prescribed by the 

9 Commission. 

10 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENT OF BENEFITS.—If certifi11 cation is revoked under paragraph (1), the candidate 

12 shall repay to the Empowering Citizens Payment Ac13 count of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund 

14 (established under section 9051 of the Internal Rev15 enue Code of 1986) an amount equal to the value 

16 of benefits received under this title with respect to 

17 the election cycle involved plus interest (at a rate de18 termined by the Commission) on any such amount 

19 received. 

20 ‘‘(c) PARTICIPATING CANDIDATE DEFINED.—In this 

21 title, a ‘participating candidate’ means a candidate for the 

22 office of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resi23 dent Commissioner to, the Congress who is certified under 

24 this section as eligible to receive benefits under this title. 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements for Can2 didates Certified as Partici3 pating Candidates 

4 ‘‘SEC. 521. RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS 

5 AND EXPENDITURES. 

6 ‘‘(a) REDUCTION IN OTHERWISE APPLICABLE CON7 TRIBUTION LIMITS.—In the case of a candidate who is 

8 certified as a participating candidate under this title with 

9 respect to an election, the limit applicable under para10 graph (1)(A) or paragraph (2)(A) of section 315(a) to the 

11 amount of a contribution which may be made to the can12 didate and any authorized committee of the candidate with 

13 respect to the election shall be equal to $1,000 for the 

14 election. 

15 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITING ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRIBUTIONS

16 BUNDLED BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS.—A candidate 

17 who is certified as a participating candidate under this 

18 title with respect to an election, and any authorized com19 mittee of such a candidate, may not accept any contribu20 tion with respect to the election which is a bundled con21 tribution (as defined in section 304(i)(8)) forwarded by 

22 or credited to a person described in section 304(i)(7). 

23 ‘‘(c) LIMIT ON EXPENDITURES FROM PERSONAL

24 FUNDS.—A candidate who is certified as a participating 

25 candidate under this title may not make expenditures from 


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1 personal funds (as defined in section 304(a)(6)(B)) in an 

2 aggregate amount exceeding $50,000 with respect to any 

3 election in the election cycle involved. 

4 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITING SOLICITATION OF FUNDS FOR PO5 LITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES.—A candidate who is cer6 tified as a participating candidate under this title may not 

7 solicit funds for any political committee of a political 

8 party, except that the candidate may solicit funds for a 

9 separate account of the committee which is established 

10 under section 315(d)(5). 

11 ‘‘SEC. 522. REMITTING UNSPENT FUNDS AFTER ELECTION. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date that is 

13 60 days after the last election for which a candidate cer14 tified as a participating candidate qualifies to be on the 

15 ballot during the election cycle involved, such participating 

16 candidate shall remit to the Commission for deposit in the 

17 Empowering Citizens Payment Account of the Presi18 dential Election Campaign Fund (established under sec19 tion 9051 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) an 

20 amount equal to the lesser of— 

21 ‘‘(1) the amount of money in the candidate’s 

22 campaign account; or 

23 ‘‘(2) the amount of the payments received by 

24 the candidate under this title. 


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1 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR EXPENDITURES INCURRED

2 BUT NOT PAID AS OF DATE OF REMITTANCE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (a), a 

4 candidate may withhold from the amount required to 

5 be remitted under paragraph (1) of such subsection 

6 the amount of any authorized expenditures which 

7 were incurred in connection with the candidate’s 

8 campaign but which remain unpaid as of the dead9 line applicable to the candidate under such sub10 section, except that any amount withheld pursuant 

11 to this paragraph shall be remitted to the Commis12 sion not later than 120 days after the date of the 

13 election to which such subsection applies. 

14 ‘‘(2) DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED.—A can15 didate may withhold an amount of an expenditure 

16 pursuant to paragraph (1) only if the candidate sub17 mits documentation of the expenditure and the 

18 amount to the Commission not later than the dead19 line applicable to the candidate under subsection (a). 

20 ‘‘Subtitle D—Administrative 

21 Provisions 

22 ‘‘SEC. 531. ADMINISTRATION BY COMMISSION. 

23 ‘‘The Commission shall prescribe regulations to carry 

24 out the purposes of this title, including regulations to es25 tablish procedures for— 


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1 ‘‘(1) verifying the amount of qualified contribu2 tions with respect to a candidate; 

3 ‘‘(2) effectively and efficiently monitoring and 

4 enforcing the limits on the raising of qualified con5 tributions; 

6 ‘‘(3) effectively and efficiently monitoring and 

7 enforcing the limits on the use of personal funds by 

8 participating candidates; and 

9 ‘‘(4) monitoring the use of payments under this 

title through audits of not fewer than 1 10 ⁄3 of all par11 ticipating candidates or other mechanisms. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 532. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES. 

13 ‘‘(a) CIVIL PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF CONTRIBU14 TION AND EXPENDITURE REQUIREMENTS.—If a can15 didate who has been certified as a participating candidate 

16 accepts a contribution or makes an expenditure that is 

17 prohibited under section 521, the Commission shall assess 

18 a civil penalty against the candidate in an amount that 

19 is not more than 3 times the amount of the contribution 

20 or expenditure. Any amounts collected under this sub21 section shall be deposited into the Empowering Citizens 

22 Payment Account of the Presidential Election Campaign 

23 Fund (established under section 9051 of the Internal Rev24 enue Code of 1986). 


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1 ‘‘(b) REPAYMENT FOR IMPROPER USE OF EMPOW2 ERING CITIZENS PAYMENT ACCOUNT.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission deter4 mines that any benefit made available to a partici5 pating candidate was not used as provided for in 

6 this title or that a participating candidate has vio7 lated any of the dates for remission of funds con8 tained in this title, the Commission shall so notify 

9 the candidate and the candidate shall pay to the 

10 Empowering Citizens Payment Account of the Presi11 dential Election Campaign Fund an amount equal 

12 to— 

13 ‘‘(A) the amount of benefits so used or not 

14 remitted, as appropriate; and 

15 ‘‘(B) interest on any such amounts (at a 

16 rate determined by the Commission). 

17 ‘‘(2) OTHER ACTION NOT PRECLUDED.—Any 

18 action by the Commission in accordance with this 

19 subsection shall not preclude enforcement pro20 ceedings by the Commission in accordance with sec21 tion 309(a), including a referral by the Commission 

22 to the Attorney General in the case of an apparent 

23 knowing and willful violation of this title. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 533. ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED. 

2 ‘‘In this title, the term ‘election cycle’ means, with 

3 respect to an election for the office of Senator or Rep4 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

5 the Congress, the period beginning on the day after the 

6 date of the most recent general election for that office (or, 

7 if the general election resulted in a runoff election, the 

8 date of the runoff election) and ending on the date of the 

9 next general election for that office (or, if the general elec10 tion resulted in a runoff election, the date of the runoff 

11 election).’’. 

12 SEC. 202. PERMITTING UNLIMITED COORDINATED EXPEND13 ITURES BY POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES 

14 ON BEHALF OF PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES 

15 IF EXPENDITURES ARE DERIVED FROM 

16 SMALL DOLLAR CONTRIBUTIONS. 

17 Section 315(d) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

18 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(d)), as amended by section 

19 101(b) of Division N of the Consolidated and Further 

20 Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 113– 

21 235; 128 Stat. 2773), is amended by adding at the end 

22 the following new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(6) In determining the amount of expenditures 

24 made by a committee under paragraph (3) in connection 

25 with the campaign of a candidate who is certified as a 

26 participating candidate under title V, there shall be exVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:10 Jan 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.IH H424

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1 cluded any expenditures which are derived from a separate 

2 account established by the committee for which the only 

3 sources of funds are contributions made during the elec4 tion cycle in an amount which does not exceed $1,000 per 

5 contributor.’’. 

6 SEC. 203. PROHIBITING USE OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY PAR7 TICIPATING CANDIDATES FOR PURPOSES 

8 OTHER THAN CAMPAIGN FOR ELECTION. 

9 Section 313 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

10 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amended by adding at the 

11 end the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTIONS ON PERMITTED USES OF FUNDS

13 BY CANDIDATES RECEIVING MATCHING PUBLIC

14 FUNDS.—Notwithstanding paragraphs (2), (3), or (4) of 

15 subsection (a), if a candidate for election for the office 

16 of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident 

17 Commissioner to, the Congress is certified as a partici18 pating candidate under title V with respect to the election, 

19 any contribution which the candidate is permitted to ac20 cept under such title may be used only for authorized ex21 penditures in connection with the candidate’s campaign 

22 for such office.’’. 


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1 TITLE III—COORDINATED 

2 CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY 

3 SEC. 301. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF COORDI4 NATED EXPENDITURES AS CONTRIBUTIONS 

5 TO CANDIDATES. 

6 (a) TREATMENT AS CONTRIBUTION TO CAN7 DIDATE.—Section 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Cam8 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(8)(A)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (i); 

10 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 

11 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

13 clause: 

14 ‘‘(iii) any payment made by any person 

15 (other than a candidate, an authorized com16 mittee of a candidate, or a political committee 

17 of a political party) for a coordinated expendi18 ture (as such term is defined in section 324) 

19 which is not otherwise treated as a contribution 

20 under clause (i) or clause (ii).’’. 

21 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 324 of such Act (52 

22 U.S.C. 30126) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 324. PAYMENTS FOR COORDINATED EXPENDITURES. 

24 ‘‘(a) COORDINATED EXPENDITURES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 

2 301(8)(A)(iii), the term ‘coordinated expenditure’ 

3 means— 

4 ‘‘(A) any expenditure, or any payment for 

5 a covered communication described in sub6 section (d), which is made in cooperation, con7 sultation, or concert with, or at the request or 

8 suggestion of, a candidate, an authorized com9 mittee of a candidate, a political committee of 

10 a political party, or agents of the candidate or 

11 committee, as defined in subsection (b); or 

12 ‘‘(B) any payment for any communication 

13 which republishes, disseminates, or distributes, 

14 in whole or in part, any video or broadcast or 

15 any written, graphic, or other form of campaign 

16 material prepared by the candidate or com17 mittee or by agents of the candidate or com18 mittee (including any excerpt or use of any 

19 video from any such broadcast or written, 

20 graphic, or other form of campaign material). 

21 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN

22 COMMUNICATIONS.—A payment for a communication 

23 (including a covered communication described in 

24 subsection (d) shall not be treated as a coordinated 

25 expenditure under this subsection if— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the communication appears in a news 

2 story, commentary, or editorial distributed 

3 through the facilities of any broadcasting sta4 tion, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical 

5 publication, unless such facilities are owned or 

6 controlled by any political party, political com7 mittee, or candidate; or 

8 ‘‘(B) the communication constitutes a can9 didate debate or forum conducted pursuant to 

10 regulations adopted by the Commission pursu11 ant to section 304(f)(3)(B)(iii), or which solely 

12 promotes such a debate or forum and is made 

13 by or on behalf of the person sponsoring the de14 bate or forum. 

15 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION DESCRIBED.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec17 tion, a payment is made ‘in cooperation, consulta18 tion, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion 

19 of,’ a candidate, an authorized committee of a can20 didate, a political committee of a political party, or 

21 agents of the candidate or committee, if the pay22 ment, or any communication for which the payment 

23 is made, is not made entirely independently of the 

24 candidate, committee, or agents. For purposes of the 

25 previous sentence, a payment or communication not 


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1 made entirely independently of the candidate or 

2 committee includes any payment or communication 

3 made pursuant to any general or particular under4 standing with, or pursuant to any communication 

5 with, the candidate, committee, or agents about the 

6 payment or communication. 

7 ‘‘(2) NO FINDING OF COORDINATION BASED

8 SOLELY ON SHARING OF INFORMATION REGARDING

9 LEGISLATIVE OR POLICY POSITION.—For purposes 

10 of this section, a payment shall not be considered to 

11 be made by a person in cooperation, consultation, or 

12 concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a 

13 candidate or committee, solely on the grounds that 

14 the person or the person’s agent engaged in discus15 sions with the candidate or committee, or with any 

16 agent of the candidate or committee, regarding that 

17 person’s position on a legislative or policy matter 

18 (including urging the candidate or committee to 

19 adopt that person’s position), so long as there is no 

20 communication between the person and the can21 didate or committee, or any agent of the candidate 

22 or committee, regarding the candidate’s or commit23 tee’s campaign advertising, message, strategy, pol24 icy, polling, allocation of resources, fundraising, or 

25 other campaign activities. 


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1 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON PARTY COORDINATION

2 STANDARD.—Nothing in this section shall be con3 strued to affect the determination of coordination 

4 between a candidate and a political committee of a 

5 political party for purposes of section 315(d). 

6 ‘‘(4) NO SAFE HARBOR FOR USE OF FIRE7 WALL.—A person shall be determined to have made 

8 a payment in cooperation, consultation, or concert 

9 with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate 

10 or committee, in accordance with this section with11 out regard to whether or not the person established 

12 and used a firewall or similar procedures to restrict 

13 the sharing of information between individuals who 

14 are employed by or who are serving as agents for the 

15 person making the payment. 

16 ‘‘(c) PAYMENTS BY COORDINATED SPENDERS FOR

17 COVERED COMMUNICATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS MADE IN COOPERATION, CON19 SULTATION, OR CONCERT WITH CANDIDATES.—For 

20 purposes of subsection (a)(1)(A), if the person who 

21 makes a payment for a covered communication, as 

22 defined in subsection (d), is a coordinated spender 

23 under paragraph (2) with respect to the candidate 

24 as described in subsection (d)(1), the payment for 


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1 the covered communication is made in cooperation, 

2 consultation, or concert with the candidate. 

3 ‘‘(2) COORDINATED SPENDER DEFINED.—For 

4 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘coordinated 

5 spender’ means, with respect to a candidate or an 

6 authorized committee of a candidate, a person (other 

7 than a political committee of a political party) for 

8 which any of the following applies: 

9 ‘‘(A) During the 4-year period ending on 

10 the date on which the person makes the pay11 ment, the person was directly or indirectly 

12 formed or established by or at the request or 

13 suggestion of, or with the encouragement of, 

14 the candidate (including an individual who later 

15 becomes a candidate) or committee or agents of 

16 the candidate or committee, including with the 

17 approval of the candidate or committee or 

18 agents of the candidate or committee. 

19 ‘‘(B) The candidate or committee or any 

20 agent of the candidate or committee solicits 

21 funds, appears at a fundraising event, or en22 gages in other fundraising activity on the per23 son’s behalf during the election cycle involved, 

24 including by providing the person with names of 

25 potential donors or other lists to be used by the 


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1 person in engaging in fundraising activity, re2 gardless of whether the person pays fair market 

3 value for the names or lists provided. For pur4 poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘election 

5 cycle’ means, with respect to an election for 

6 Federal office, the period beginning on the day 

7 after the date of the most recent general elec8 tion for that office (or, if the general election 

9 resulted in a runoff election, the date of the 

10 runoff election) and ending on the date of the 

11 next general election for that office (or, if the 

12 general election resulted in a runoff election, 

13 the date of the runoff election). 

14 ‘‘(C) The person is established, directed, or 

15 managed by the candidate or committee or by 

16 any person who, during the 4-year period end17 ing on the date on which the person makes the 

18 payment, has been employed or retained as a 

19 political, campaign media, or fundraising ad20 viser or consultant for the candidate or com21 mittee or for any other entity directly or indi22 rectly controlled by the candidate or committee, 

23 or has held a formal position with the candidate 

24 or committee. 


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1 ‘‘(D) The person has retained the profes2 sional services of any person who, during the 2- 

3 year period ending on the date on which the 

4 person makes the payment, has provided or is 

5 providing professional services relating to the 

6 campaign to the candidate or committee, with7 out regard to whether the person providing the 

8 professional services used a firewall. For pur9 poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘profes10 sional services’ includes any services in support 

11 of the candidate’s or committee’s campaign ac12 tivities, including advertising, message, strat13 egy, policy, polling, allocation of resources, 

14 fundraising, and campaign operations, but does 

15 not include accounting or legal services. 

16 ‘‘(E) The person is established, directed, or 

17 managed by a member of the immediate family 

18 of the candidate, or the person or any officer or 

19 agent of the person has had more than inci20 dental discussions about the candidate’s cam21 paign with a member of the immediate family 

22 of the candidate. For purposes of this subpara23 graph, the term ‘immediate family’ has the 

24 meaning given such term in section 9004(e) of 

25 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 


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1 ‘‘(d) COVERED COMMUNICATION DEFINED.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec3 tion, the term ‘covered communication’ means, with 

4 respect to a candidate or an authorized committee of 

5 a candidate, a public communication (as defined in 

6 section 301(22)) which— 

7 ‘‘(A) expressly advocates the election of the 

8 candidate or the defeat of an opponent of the 

9 candidate (or contains the functional equivalent 

10 of express advocacy); 

11 ‘‘(B) promotes or supports the candidate, 

12 or attacks or opposes an opponent of the can13 didate (regardless of whether the communica14 tion expressly advocates the election or defeat 

15 of a candidate or contains the functional equiv16 alent of express advocacy); or 

17 ‘‘(C) refers to the candidate or an oppo18 nent of the candidate but is not described in 

19 subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (B), but 

20 only if the communication is disseminated dur21 ing the applicable election period. 

22 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE ELECTION PERIOD.—In para23 graph (1)(C), the ‘applicable election period’ with re24 spect to a communication means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in the case of a communication which 

2 refers to a candidate in a general, special, or 

3 runoff election, the 120-day period which ends 

4 on the date of the election; or 

5 ‘‘(B) in the case of a communication which 

6 refers to a candidate in a primary or preference 

7 election, or convention or caucus of a political 

8 party that has authority to nominate a can9 didate, the 60-day period which ends on the 

10 date of the election or convention or caucus. 

11 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR COMMUNICATIONS IN12 VOLVING CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES.—For pur13 poses of this subsection, a public communication 

14 shall not be considered to be a covered communica15 tion with respect to a candidate for election for an 

16 office other than the office of President or Vice 

17 President unless it is publicly disseminated or dis18 tributed in the jurisdiction of the office the can19 didate is seeking. 

20 ‘‘(e) PENALTY.— 

21 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.—Any per22 son who knowingly and willfully commits a violation 

23 of this Act by making a contribution which consists 

24 of a payment for a coordinated expenditure shall be 

25 fined an amount equal to the greater of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in the case of a person who makes a 

2 contribution which consists of a payment for a 

3 coordinated expenditure in an amount exceeding 

4 the applicable contribution limit under this Act, 

5 300 percent of the amount by which the 

6 amount of the payment made by the person ex7 ceeds such applicable contribution limit; or 

8 ‘‘(B) in the case of a person who is prohib9 ited under this Act from making a contribution 

10 in any amount, 300 percent of the amount of 

11 the payment made by the person for the coordi12 nated expenditure. 

13 ‘‘(2) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.—Any di14 rector, manager or officer of a person who is subject 

15 to a penalty under paragraph (1) shall be jointly and 

16 severally liable for any amount of such penalty that 

17 is not paid by the person prior to the expiration of 

18 the 1-year period which begins on the date the Com19 mission imposes the penalty or the 1-year period 

20 which begins on the date of the final judgment fol21 lowing any judicial review of the Commission’s ac22 tion, whichever is later.’’. 

23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

24 (1) REPEAL OF EXISTING REGULATIONS ON CO25 ORDINATION.—Effective upon the expiration of the 


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1 90-day period which begins on the date of the enact2 ment of this Act— 

3 (A) the regulations on coordinated commu4 nications adopted by the Federal Election Com5 mission which are in effect on the date of the 

6 enactment of this Act (as set forth in 11 C.F.R. 

7 part 109, subpart C, under the heading ‘‘Co8 ordination’’) are repealed; and 

9 (B) the Federal Election Commission shall 

10 promulgate new regulations on coordinated 

11 communications which reflect the amendments 

12 made by this Act. 

13 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

14 by this section shall apply with respect to payments 

15 made on or after the expiration of the 120-day pe16 riod which begins on the date of the enactment of 

17 this Act, without regard to whether or not the Fed18 eral Election Commission has promulgated regula19 tions in accordance with paragraph (1)(B) as of the 

20 expiration of such period. 


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1 SEC. 302. CLARIFICATION OF BAN ON FUNDRAISING FOR 

2 SUPER PACS BY FEDERAL CANDIDATES AND 

3 OFFICEHOLDERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 323(e)(1) of the Federal 

5 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30125(e)(1)) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

8 (A); 

9 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub10 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(C) solicit, receive, direct, or transfer 

14 funds to or on behalf of any political committee 

15 which accepts donations or contributions that 

16 do not comply with the limitations, prohibitions, 

17 and reporting requirements of this Act (or to or 

18 on behalf of any account of a political com19 mittee which is established for the purpose of 

20 accepting such donations or contributions), or 

21 to or on behalf of any political organization 

22 under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code 

23 of 1986 which accepts such donations or con24 tributions (other than a committee of a State or 

25 local political party or a candidate for election 

26 for State or local office).’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections occur3 ring after January 1, 2016. 

4 TITLE IV—USE OF PRESI5 DENTIAL ELECTION CAM6 PAIGN FUND FOR PUBLIC FI7 NANCING OF FEDERAL ELEC8 TIONS 

9 SEC. 401. USE OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 

10 FUND FOR CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES. 

11 Subtitle H of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following new chapter: 

13 ‘‘CHAPTER 97—EMPOWERING CITIZENS 

14 PAYMENT ACCOUNT 

‘‘Sec. 9051. Payments to Congressional candidates. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 9051. PAYMENTS TO CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES. 

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNT.—The Secretary 

17 shall maintain in the Presidential Election Campaign 

18 Fund established by section 9006(a), in addition to any 

19 account which he maintains under such section, a separate 

20 account to be known as the Empowering Citizens Payment 

21 Account. The Secretary shall deposit into such Account 

22 the amount available after the Secretary determines that 

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1 ments under section 9037(b) are available for such pay2 ments. 

3 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUND FOR PAYMENTS TO CONGRES4 SIONAL CANDIDATES PARTICIPATING IN PUBLIC FINANC5 ING PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall transfer amounts in 

6 the Fund to the Federal Election Commission, at such 

7 times and in such amounts as the Federal Election Com8 mission may certify, for payments to candidates for elec9 tion to the office of Senator or Representative in, or Dele10 gate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress who are 

11 participating candidates under title V of the Federal Elec12 tion Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

13 SEC. 402. REVISIONS TO DESIGNATION OF INCOME TAX 

14 PAYMENTS BY INDIVIDUAL TAXPAYERS. 

15 (a) INCREASE IN AMOUNT DESIGNATED.—Section 

16 6096(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘$3’’ each 

19 place it appears and inserting ‘‘$20’’; and 

20 (2) in the second sentence— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘$6’’ and inserting ‘‘$40’’; 

22 and 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘$3’’ and inserting ‘‘$20’’. 

24 (b) INDEXING.—Section 6096 of such Code is amend25 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(d) INDEXING OF AMOUNT DESIGNATED.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each tax3 able year after 2015, each amount referred to in 

4 subsection (a) shall be increased by the percent dif5 ference described in paragraph (2), except that if 

6 any such amount after such an increase is not a 

7 multiple of $1, such amount shall be rounded to the 

8 nearest multiple of $1. 

9 ‘‘(2) PERCENT DIFFERENCE DESCRIBED.—The 

10 percent difference described in this paragraph with 

11 respect to a taxable year is the percent difference 

12 determined under section 315(c)(1)(A) of the Fed13 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 with respect to 

14 the calendar year during which the taxable year be15 gins, except that the base year involved shall be 

16 2014.’’. 

17 (c) ENSURING TAX PREPARATION SOFTWARE DOES

18 NOT PROVIDE AUTOMATIC RESPONSE TO DESIGNATION

19 QUESTION.—Section 6096 of such Code, as amended by 

20 subsection (b), is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(e) ENSURING TAX PREPARATION SOFTWARE DOES

23 NOT PROVIDE AUTOMATIC RESPONSE TO DESIGNATION

24 QUESTION.—The Secretary shall promulgate regulations 

25 to ensure that electronic software used in the preparation 


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1 or filing of individual income tax returns does not auto2 matically accept or decline a designation of a payment 

3 under this section.’’. 

4 (d) PUBLIC INFORMATION PROGRAM ON DESIGNA5 TION.—Section 6096 of such Code, as amended by sub6 sections (b) and (c), is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(f) PUBLIC INFORMATION PROGRAM.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Election Com10 mission shall conduct a program to inform and edu11 cate the public regarding the purposes of the Presi12 dential Election Campaign Fund, the procedures for 

13 the designation of payments under this section, and 

14 the effect of such a designation on the income tax 

15 liability of taxpayers. 

16 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS FOR PROGRAM.—Amounts 

17 in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund shall be 

18 made available to the Federal Election Commission 

19 to carry out the program under this subsection.’’. 

20 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall take effect January 1, 2015. 

22 SEC. 403. DONATION TO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAM23 PAIGN FUND. 

24 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Every taxpayer who makes a 

25 return of the tax imposed by subtitle A of the Internal 


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1 Revenue Code of 1986 for any taxable year ending after 

2 December 31, 2014, may donate an amount (not less than 

3 $1), in addition to any designation of income tax liability 

4 under section 6096 of such Code for such taxable year, 

5 which shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treas6 ury. 

7 (b) MANNER AND TIME OF DESIGNATION.—Any do8 nation under subsection (a) for any taxable year— 

9 (1) shall be made at the time of filing the re10 turn of the tax imposed by subtitle A of such Code 

11 for such taxable year and in such manner as the 

12 Secretary may by regulation prescribe, except that— 

13 (A) the designation for such donation shall 

14 be either on the first page of the return or on 

15 the page bearing the taxpayer’s signature, and 

16 (B) the designation shall be by a box 

17 added to the return, and the text beside the box 

18 shall provide: 

19 ‘‘By checking here, I signify that in 

20 addition to my tax liability (if any), I 

21 would like to donate the included payment 

22 to be used exclusively as a contribution to 

23 the Presidential Election Campaign 

24 Fund.’’, and 


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1 (2) shall be accompanied by a payment of the 

2 amount so designated. 

3 (c) TREATMENT OF AMOUNTS DONATED.—For pur4 poses of this title, the amount donated by any taxpayer 

5 under subsection (a) shall be treated as a contribution 

6 made by such taxpayer to the United States on the last 

7 date prescribed for filing the return of tax imposed by sub8 title A of such Code (determined without regard to exten9 sions) or, if later, the date the return is filed. 

10 (d) TRANSFERS TO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAM11 PAIGN FUND.—The Secretary shall, from time to time, 

12 transfer to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund es13 tablished under section 9006(a) of such Code amounts 

14 equal to the amounts donated under this section. 

15 TITLE V—OTHER CAMPAIGN 

16 FINANCE REFORMS 

17 SEC. 501. REGULATIONS WITH RESPECT TO BEST EFFORTS 

18 FOR IDENTIFYING PERSONS MAKING CON19 TRIBUTIONS. 

20 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act, the Federal Election Commission shall pro22 mulgate regulations with respect to what constitutes best 

23 efforts under section 302(i) of the Federal Election Cam24 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102(i)) for determining 

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1 ical committees, including the identifications of persons 

2 making contributions over the Internet or by credit card. 

3 Such regulations shall include a requirement that in the 

4 case of contributions made by a credit card, the political 

5 committee shall ensure that the name on the credit card 

6 used to make the contribution matches the name of the 

7 person making the contribution. 

8 SEC. 502. PROHIBITION ON JOINT FUNDRAISING COMMIT9 TEES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(e) of the Federal 

11 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102(e)) is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following new para13 graph: 

14 ‘‘(6) No authorized committee of a candidate may es15 tablish, participate in, or have any involvement with any 

16 joint fundraising committee.’’. 

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall take effect on January 1, 2016. 

19 SEC. 503. DISCLOSURE OF BUNDLED CONTRIBUTIONS TO 

20 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraphs (1) through (3) of 

22 section 304(i) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

23 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(i)) are amended to read as fol24 lows: 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) DISCLOSURE OF BUNDLED CON2 TRIBUTIONS BY LOBBYISTS.—Each committee 

3 described in paragraph (6) shall include in the 

4 first report required to be filed under this sec5 tion after each covered period (as defined in 

6 paragraph (2)) a separate schedule setting forth 

7 the name, address, and employer of each person 

8 reasonably known by the committee to be a per9 son described in paragraph (7) who provided 2 

10 or more bundled contributions to the committee 

11 in an aggregate amount greater than the appli12 cable threshold (as defined in paragraph (3)) 

13 during the covered period, and the aggregate 

14 amount of the bundled contributions provided 

15 by each such person during the covered period. 

16 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF BUNDLED CON17 TRIBUTIONS TO PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS.— 

18 Each committee which is an authorized com19 mittee of a candidate for the office of President 

20 or for nomination to such office shall include in 

21 the first report required to be filed under this 

22 section after each covered period (as defined in 

23 paragraph (2)) a separate schedule setting forth 

24 the name, address, and employer of each person 

25 who provided 2 or more bundled contributions 


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1 to the committee in an aggregate amount great2 er than the applicable threshold (as defined in 

3 paragraph (3)) during the election cycle, and 

4 the aggregate amount of the bundled contribu5 tions provided by each such person during the 

6 covered period and such election cycle. Such 

7 schedule shall include a separate listing of the 

8 name, address, and employer of each person in9 cluded on such schedule who is reasonably 

10 known by the committee to be a person de11 scribed in paragraph (7), together with the ag12 gregate amount of bundled contributions pro13 vided by such person during such period and 

14 such cycle. 

15 ‘‘(2) COVERED PERIOD.—In this subsection, a 

16 ‘covered period’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) with respect to a committee which is 

18 an authorized committee of a candidate for the 

19 office of President or for nomination to such of20 fice— 

21 ‘‘(i) the 4-year election cycle ending 

22 with the date of the election for the office 

23 of the President; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) any reporting period applicable 

25 to the committee under this section during 


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1 which any person provided 2 or more bun2 dled contributions to the committee; and 

3 ‘‘(B) with respect to any other com4 mittee— 

5 ‘‘(i) the period beginning January 1 

6 and ending June 30 of each year; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the period beginning July 1 and 

8 ending December 31 of each year; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) any reporting period applicable 

10 to the committee under this section during 

11 which any person described in paragraph 

12 (7) provided 2 or more bundled contribu13 tions to the committee in an aggregate 

14 amount greater than the applicable thresh15 old. 

16 ‘‘(3) APPLICABLE THRESHOLD.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection, the 

18 ‘applicable threshold’ is— 

19 ‘‘(i) $50,000 in the case of a com20 mittee which is an authorized committee of 

21 a candidate for the office of President or 

22 for nomination to such office; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) $15,000 in the case of any other 

24 committee. 


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1 In determining whether the amount of bundled 

2 contributions provided to a committee by a per3 son exceeds the applicable threshold, there shall 

4 be excluded any contribution made to the com5 mittee by the person or the person’s spouse. 

6 ‘‘(B) INDEXING.—In any calendar year 

7 after 2017, section 315(c)(1)(B) shall apply to 

8 each amount applicable under subparagraph 

9 (A) in the same manner as such section applies 

10 to the limitations established under subsections 

11 (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), (a)(3), and (h) of such 

12 section, except that for purposes of applying 

13 such section to the amount applicable under 

14 subparagraph (A), the ‘base period’ shall be 

15 2016. 

16 ‘‘(C) AGGREGATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS

17 FROM COSPONSORS OF FUNDRAISING EVENT.— 

18 For purposes of determining the amount of 

19 bundled contributions provided by a person to a 

20 committee which were received by the person at 

21 a fundraising event sponsored by the person, or 

22 in response to an invitation to attend a fund23 raising event sponsored by the person, each per24 son who is a sponsor of the event shall be con25 sidered to have provided to the committee the 


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1 aggregate amount of all bundled contributions 

2 which were provided to the committee by all 

3 sponsors of the event.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 304(i) of 

5 such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(i)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘described in 

7 paragraph (7)’’ each place it appears in subpara8 graphs (C) and (D); 

9 (2) in paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘(other than 

10 a candidate for the office of President or for nomi11 nation to such office)’’ after ‘‘candidate’’; and 

12 (3) in paragraph (8)(A)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘, with respect to a com14 mittee described in paragraph (6) and a person 

15 described in paragraph (7),’’ and inserting ‘‘, 

16 with respect to a committee described in para17 graph (6) or an authorized committee of a can18 didate for the office of President or for nomina19 tion to such office,’’; 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘by the person’’ in clause 

21 (i) thereof and inserting ‘‘by any person’’; and 

22 (C) by striking ‘‘the person’’ each place it 

23 appears in clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘such per24 son’’. 


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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply with respect to reports filed under 

3 section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

4 after January 1, 2016. 

5 SEC. 504. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF ACTIONS RELATED TO CAM6 PAIGN FINANCE LAWS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Federal Election 

8 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30141 et seq.) is 

9 amended by inserting after section 406 the following new 

10 section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 407. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If any action is brought for de13 claratory or injunctive relief to challenge the constitu14 tionality of any provision of this Act or of chapter 95 or 

15 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or is brought 

16 to with respect to any action of the Commission under 

17 chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

18 the following rules shall apply: 

19 ‘‘(1) The action shall be filed in the United 

20 States District Court for the District of Columbia 

21 and an appeal from the decision of the district court 

22 may be taken to the Court of Appeals for the Dis23 trict of Columbia Circuit. 


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1 ‘‘(2) In the case of an action relating to declar2 atory or injunctive relief to challenge the constitu3 tionality of a provision— 

4 ‘‘(A) a copy of the complaint shall be deliv5 ered promptly to the Clerk of the House of 

6 Representatives and the Secretary of the Sen7 ate; and 

8 ‘‘(B) it shall be the duty of the United 

9 States District Court for the District of Colum10 bia, the Court of Appeals for the District of Co11 lumbia, and the Supreme Court of the United 

12 States to advance on the docket and to expedite 

13 to the greatest possible extent the disposition of 

14 the action and appeal. 

15 ‘‘(b) INTERVENTION BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.— 

16 In any action in which the constitutionality of any provi17 sion of this Act or chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Rev18 enue Code of 1986 is raised, any member of the House 

19 of Representatives (including a Delegate or Resident Com20 missioner to the Congress) or Senate shall have the right 

21 to intervene either in support of or opposition to the posi22 tion of a party to the case regarding the constitutionality 

23 of the provision. To avoid duplication of efforts and reduce 

24 the burdens placed on the parties to the action, the court 

25 in any such action may make such orders as it considers 


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1 necessary, including orders to require interveners taking 

2 similar positions to file joint papers or to be represented 

3 by a single attorney at oral argument. 

4 ‘‘(c) CHALLENGE BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—Any 

5 Member of Congress may bring an action, subject to the 

6 special rules described in subsection (a), for declaratory 

7 or injunctive relief to challenge the constitutionality of any 

8 provision of this Act or chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (A) Section 310 of the Federal Election 

13 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30110) is re14 pealed. 

15 (B) Section 9011 of the Internal Revenue 

16 Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 9011. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

18 ‘‘For provisions relating to judicial review of certifi19 cations, determinations, and actions by the Commission 

20 under this chapter, see section 407 of the Federal Election 

21 Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

22 (C) Section 9041 of the Internal Revenue 

23 Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 9041. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

2 ‘‘For provisions relating to judicial review of actions 

3 by the Commission under this chapter, see section 407 of 

4 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

5 (D) Section 403 of the Bipartisan Cam6 paign Finance Reform Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

7 30110 note) is repealed. 

8 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall apply to actions brought on or after Jan10 uary 1, 2016. 

11 TITLE VI—SEVERABILITY; 

12 EFFECTIVE DATE 

13 SEC. 601. SEVERABILITY. 

14 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

15 this Act, or the application of a provision or amendment 

16 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu17 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

18 by this Act, and the application of the provisions and 

19 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

20 affected by the holding. 

21 SEC. 602. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amend23 ments made by this Act shall apply with respect to elec24 tions occurring after January 1, 2016. 

Æ 


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